strange and random happenstance

The thing with Doctor Who is that it's so ridiculously popular and has such a strong fanbase that you can literally never slack the thirst of the Whovians for more more more. Besides the myriad books and comics and episodes starring The Doctor, there is also that time honored tradition of the "spin-off." While there are the more obvious spin-offs, The Sarah Jane Adventures, K-9 (the successful 2010 spin-off, not the failed 1981 spin-off which ironically costarred Sarah Jane), and of course, Captain Jack's vehicle, Torchwood (an anagram of Doctor Who itself), there are more spin-offs then you might imagine. These books and audios and shows have expanded the Whoverse to be something more. The thing is, Doctor Who isn't just about The Doctor. Look at the most wildly popular episode of the new series, "Blink," and you will see that I am right. This episode is Sally Sparrow's, not The Doctors. So where to begin?

First, let's talk about characters that have actually appeared in the television series. There is the hilarious comedic duo of Henry Gordon Jago and Professor George Litefoot who appeared in the 1977 serial with Tom Baker, "The Talons of Weng-Chiang." These two men made the episode so fun and you just didn't want to leave them at the end of the story when the TARDIS left. The duo of "an upper class gentleman with the voluble cockney showman" was recognised at the time as a winning combination worthy of a spin-off. Sadly, we had to wait over thirty years but Big Finish has now created a series of audio adventures with this daring duo. The fact that characters from one serial could have such a following that they reappear thirty years later shows the loyalty of the fanbase. It must also be noted that if it weren't for Big Finish and their Doctor Who audios, who knows if the series would have ever come back so strong. Other characters from the show that have had spin-offs in printed media are the 5th Doctor's companion Turlough, as well as the 4th Doctor's companions Harry Sullivan, K-9 and Sarah Jane, who all got novelizations in the "Companions of Doctor Who" full-length novels.

But there is another level to this. There are characters now that have been created in the novels that have then spun-off to their own series or made cameos in the authors own works. The two I am thinking of most are Iris Wildthyme and Professor Archibald Angelchrist. Iris Wildthyme is a character that was created by Paul Magrs and was featured in a few of his books where she exhibited some Time Lord like attributes. Flash forward to the short story "Old Flames" and Iris is hanging out with the 4th Doctor because they are old friends. Iris went on to be in four Doctor Who novels, numerous short stories, tons of audio adventures, and two of her own books so far. Iris has made her mark on Doctor Who and gone on to be just Iris. Though in an interesting case of wibbly wobbly timey wimey, in the audio plays she's voiced by Katy Manning who played Jo Grant on Doctor Who... As for Professor Angelchrist, he made his first appearance in the 11th Doctor's book Paradox Lost by George Mann. But that hasn't stopped him from jumping into Mann's other books and weaving himself into that world. Angelchrist has showed up in Ghosts of Manhattan and talked about Newbury and Hobbes... so it's all worlds within worlds. But for the true Whovian, all this commingling, expanding, and wibbly wobbly timey wimey makes this expanded Whoverse that much more rich and rewarding. So go out and see what else this universe has to offer!

Posted by Miss Eliza at 12:00 AM 2 comments  

Labels: Angelchrist, Big Finish, Captain Jack, Doctor Who, George Mann, Iris Wildthyme, Jago and Litefoot, K-9, Paul Magrs, Sally Sparrow, Sarah Jane Adventures, The 11th Doctor, The 4th Doctor, Torchwood, Turlough

Beautiful Chaos by Gary Russell
Published by: BBC Books
Publication Date: December 26th, 2008
Format: Paperback, 242 Pages
Rating: ★
To Buy

Donna has asked The Doctor to take her home so that she can be with her mother for the anniversary of her father's death. The Doctor doesn't really do families well so he tries to stay out of the way of the bickering that ensues once the Nobles gather together. Plus, The Doctor has always gotten on well with Donna's granddad, Wilf, so it's easier to just spend time out with him in the allotment looking up at the stars. In fact there's a few new stars in the sky. Wilf was the first to find one of them and he's getting a dinner in his honor which he hopes The Doctor will attend. The Doctor doesn't seem so fussed about the dinner, but the other new stars, the ones that seem to be coming into alignment, well, they worry him.

At the dinner the other astronomers are grating and Donna is actually a little relieved when Wilf's lady friend, Netty, has an episode. Netty is dealing with Alzheimer's, which means that Wilf and Donna's mom are also dealing with it. Yet when The Doctor fully realizes the impact of the alignment, he has an even better excuse to leave the dinner, Donna in tow. With a cunning use of computers, astrology, genealogy, and astronomy, an old evil that The Doctor has faced before is going to use the human race to launch it's empire across the stars. Something The Doctor seriously wants to avoid happening.

I don't like to read about illness and despair, I have enough of that in my own life, thank you. This isn't the place to talk about it really, but I must touch on the issue so that you'll understand why this book made me want to get up in the author's face and explain a few facts to him, possibly with my fists. When I was in grade school my mom had two bouts of Cancer, which she survived. Though surviving took a toll. The chemo and other therapies sped things up so that while she is only thirty years older than me, her body thinks it's really fifty years older than me, which makes her the same "age" as when her mother got Parkinson's. My mom has Parkinson's. This is a daily struggle. Therefore, I think you can see why I use reading as an escape. I want to be anywhere and anywhen then here, and a book that dwells on these issues, no thank you.

While Russell's use of an incurable illness, in this case Alzheimer's, as the real evil is apt, he goes too far into the braveness of the battle. Netty dealing with her chronic illness bravely and nobly (sorry, I HAD to use that pun) just felt like some sort of propaganda for dealing with this kind of crisis in a stiff upper lip, keeping up appearances way. The message was heavy handed. People who talk about fighting this kind of battle as "brave" or "courageous" just make me want to scream. These are platitudes designed to make you, yeah, you, the one who doesn't have to deal with this shit better. To people in my position, well, it makes me want to punch you. Do you all not understand that there's your public face and your private face? That there's what you should to the world, what you show to the patient, and what you show to yourself? Yes, sure, I guess we could say that at least Donna's mom deals more with the reality of all this, but in the end, no, she doesn't because Netty joyously declares that she wants to go into a nursing home. Please (insert me rolling my eyes)! Show me one person out there who's like, "Nursing Home, SIGN ME UP!" No one will even want this, even if they know they can't handle their life in their current environment. My great aunt, she's 89, and she's steadfastly vetoing any kind of help or assisted living. And she's just the most recent of my family members to do this.

I had such hopes for this book because Donna Noble is my favorite companion in the new series, hands down, perhaps even in all the series. When The Doctor lost Donna, that was really the end of this Doctor. His life after that was filled with sadness and loneliness. The heartbreaking scene when Donna has to have her memory removed has taken on a fuller life her and made into a staggeringly heartbreaking novel. By bookending a story about Altzheimer's with Donna's own memory lose, it's a punch to the gut, that's what it is. But more then that, by showing the struggles that Donna's mother and grandfather are going through, it makes Donna's decision to travel in the TARDIS seem callous. Russell has taken my favorite character and put a spin on her that I don't like one bit. If I where just to say, fuck it and up and leave, well, I don't know what would happen, and that's a fear that I live with all the time. I admired Donna before, now... now I see someone in my position being heartless and unfeeling. Ug, just someone, remove this book from my mind, I want my Donna back.

As for the "plot," well, take out the struggle with family and illness and do we really even have much of a plot? No we don't. The author has made a flimsy story about Mandragora returning, which, for those of you not inculcated into every medium The Doctor appears in, television, written, and audio, well, you might be more then a little lost, but Russell doesn't seem to care or even want to explain for those new to this evil. Not every reader knows everything Doctor Who! A book like these needs to be written for all levels of readers. Also the evil computer/world domination bid with some little kids helping out, well, it made it more like a saccharine episode of The Sarah Jane Adventures if it had be touched up by Michael Crichton. Also, the Doctor is more then a bit bitchy and down on humans, oh, and, seriously, authors, don't have the title of your book used like fifty times throughout the story, it's annoying. Ok... I think my rant is over... can't be sure, these episodes are unexpected, much like Netty's... gaw, Netty...

Posted by Miss Eliza at 12:00 AM 0 comments  

Labels: Alzheimer's, Beautiful Chaos, Cancer, Doctor Who, Donna, Gary Russell, Mandragora, Michael Crichton, Nursing Home, Parkinson's, Sarah Jane Adventures, The 10th Doctor, Wilf

The Ninnies by Paul Magrs
Book Provided by Obverse Books
Published by: Obverse Books
Publication Date: April 30th, 2012
Format: Kindle, 172 Pages
Rating: ★★★★★
To Buy
One day Alan's Dad disappears. Everyone, even his Mom, believes Alan's Dad has done a runner. The family's reduced circumstances with a new baby on the way would make anyone do a bunk. Alan knows it isn't true. He saw his dad taken. They where tall with scorched looking skin and drove a black limousine. Then there was the sound of their feet, krunch, krunch, krunch, and their high pitched laugh, hee hee hee. These creatures where the very stuff of nightmares. But why would they want Alan's Dad? He's just a window cleaner, nothing much. More importantly, what are they?

Soon there are more disappearances in town. The police aren't taking an interest, but Alan knows it's the same creatures. In the flat above Alan's are two oldsters, a brother and sister, who, despite their advancing years, are quite sprightly, and noisy, and are driving Alan's mom insane with their disco music. When Alan finally gets to know Bunty and Marlton, he finds out that they have had dealings with these creatures and they know what they are, they are Ninnies.

No one quite knows what a Ninny is or what a Ninny wants. They are scary, shadowy creatures. They might be from space, or a different dimension, or straight out of our nightmares. They could explain the unexplainable, they might be the fairies and trolls of legend, they could be the spacemen people claim to see, they could be all of this and none of this, but disappearances are the first sign that they have arrived. The second sign is mutilation of animals. This soon occurs at the Bonnitime Zoo which is run by Twitsy Nesbit, a friend of Bunty and Marlton's. The final sign is people being addicted to some savory treat... very soon there is a new brand of crisps on the mark, Krispies, with strange names like "Zebra and Artichoke." Alan finds out about the crisps from his classmate Amy who works at her families store. Alan quickly becomes addicted. Even once he knows they are from the evil creatures that took his Dad, he can't stop himself. The Ninnies meanwhile can't leave Alan and his friends alone. Tapping on windows late and night, their menacing hee hee hee's coming out of the shadows. Something will have to be done about them... after one more bag of Krispies.

This book quite literally blew me away. I don't know what I was expecting, but it wasn't this. The title and the cover led me to think that this would be a silly little story about some mischievous creatures called The Ninnies that would be on the younger side of YA... don't ask me to explain why my brain thought this, it just did. My brain was not prepared to be blown. I think that's the best kind of book, the one that sneaks up on you and just wows you. This book was like Roald Dahl at his best, Neil Gaiman at his darkest and wittiest, or what you always wanted the Sarah Jane Adventures to be, but never quite where. Ghoulish, macabre and suspenseful, I loved it. It kept my up to the wee hours every night hoping not to hear a ghoulish hee hee hee coming from outside my bedroom door.

The mystery of the Ninnies combined with their side business in Krispies, which was run out of an old red brick Victorian Factory, made me feel like I was reading the dark cousin of Charlie and the Chocolate Factory. It's like the Oompa Loompa's had taken over the factory and started to kill and eat the small children. Hence it isn't odd that the book felt reminiscent of Gaiman, with his proclivities to kill families and children. Yet, despite these literary correlations, this book was all Paul Magrs. His wit and humor remained intact. You could tell this was the writer of the Brenda and Effie books with the eccentric cast of characters, the loving way he portrays the elderly and his love of pick and mix shops, yet, he stepped it up a notch. More humor, more horror, more suspense. The fact that Alan, once learning the truth of his food addiction and being unable to give it up, left you with a slight nauseous feeling while you where also finding it funny that he's hiding crisp packets about his person so that no one knows his "dark secret."

The Ninnies I think has quickly become my favorite of Magrs works. It brought back that feeling of horrible delight I had upon first reading Roald Dahl's Matilda in sixth grade. He also was able to maintain the suspense by only giving us a little bit at a time, like a single crisp instead of an entire packet to wolf down like Alan. If there was a down side it was that I felt the story should have been self contained and not open to a sequel. Sometimes a stand alone is what's needed and I don't know if the horrible suspense Paul has created will be able to carry though a second volume... but that again, I am willing to be surprised.

Posted by Miss Eliza at 12:00 AM 2 comments  

Labels: Brenda and Effie, Krispies, Magrs Month, Matilda, Meat Pies, Neil Gaiman, Oompa Loompa, Paul Magrs, Roald Dahl, Sarah Jane Adventures, The Ninnies

The Ninnies by Paul Magrs
Book Provided by Obverse Books
Published by: Obverse Books
Publication Date: April 30th, 2012
Format: Kindle, 172 Pages
Rating: ★★★★★
To Buy
One day Alan's Dad disappears. Everyone, even his Mom, believes Alan's Dad has done a runner. The family's reduced circumstances with a new baby on the way would make anyone do a bunk. Alan knows it isn't true. He saw his dad taken. They where tall with scorched looking skin and drove a black limousine. Then there was the sound of their feet, krunch, krunch, krunch, and their high pitched laugh, hee hee hee. These creatures where the very stuff of nightmares. But why would they want Alan's Dad? He's just a window cleaner, nothing much. More importantly, what are they?

Soon there are more disappearances in town. The police aren't taking an interest, but Alan knows it's the same creatures. In the flat above Alan's are two oldsters, a brother and sister, who, despite their advancing years, are quite sprightly, and noisy, and are driving Alan's mom insane with their disco music. When Alan finally gets to know Bunty and Marlton, he finds out that they have had dealings with these creatures and they know what they are, they are Ninnies.

No one quite knows what a Ninny is or what a Ninny wants. They are scary, shadowy creatures. They might be from space, or a different dimension, or straight out of our nightmares. They could explain the unexplainable, they might be the fairies and trolls of legend, they could be the spacemen people claim to see, they could be all of this and none of this, but disappearances are the first sign that they have arrived. The second sign is mutilation of animals. This soon occurs at the Bonnitime Zoo which is run by Twitsy Nesbit, a friend of Bunty and Marlton's. The final sign is people being addicted to some savory treat... very soon there is a new brand of crisps on the mark, Krispies, with strange names like "Zebra and Artichoke." Alan finds out about the crisps from his classmate Amy who works at her families store. Alan quickly becomes addicted. Even once he knows they are from the evil creatures that took his Dad, he can't stop himself. The Ninnies meanwhile can't leave Alan and his friends alone. Tapping on windows late and night, their menacing hee hee hee's coming out of the shadows. Something will have to be done about them... after one more bag of Krispies.

This book quite literally blew me away. I don't know what I was expecting, but it wasn't this. The title and the cover led me to think that this would be a silly little story about some mischievous creatures called The Ninnies that would be on the younger side of YA... don't ask me to explain why my brain thought this, it just did. My brain was not prepared to be blown. I think that's the best kind of book, the one that sneaks up on you and just wows you. This book was like Roald Dahl at his best, Neil Gaiman at his darkest and wittiest, or what you always wanted the Sarah Jane Adventures to be, but never quite where. Ghoulish, macabre and suspenseful, I loved it. It kept my up to the wee hours every night hoping not to hear a ghoulish hee hee hee coming from outside my bedroom door.

The mystery of the Ninnies combined with their side business in Krispies, which was run out of an old red brick Victorian Factory, made me feel like I was reading the dark cousin of Charlie and the Chocolate Factory. It's like the Oompa Loompa's had taken over the factory and started to kill and eat the small children. Hence it isn't odd that the book felt reminiscent of Gaiman, with his proclivities to kill families and children. Yet, despite these literary correlations, this book was all Paul Magrs. His wit and humor remained intact. You could tell this was the writer of the Brenda and Effie books with the eccentric cast of characters, the loving way he portrays the elderly and his love of pick and mix shops, yet, he stepped it up a notch. More humor, more horror, more suspense. The fact that Alan, once learning the truth of his food addiction and being unable to give it up, left you with a slight nauseous feeling while you where also finding it funny that he's hiding crisp packets about his person so that no one knows his "dark secret."

The Ninnies I think has quickly become my favorite of Magrs works. It brought back that feeling of horrible delight I had upon first reading Roald Dahl's Matilda in sixth grade. He also was able to maintain the suspense by only giving us a little bit at a time, like a single crisp instead of an entire packet to wolf down like Alan. If there was a down side it was that I felt the story should have been self contained and not open to a sequel. Sometimes a stand alone is what's needed and I don't know if the horrible suspense Paul has created will be able to carry though a second volume... but that again, I am willing to be surprised.

Posted by Miss Eliza at 12:00 AM 0 comments  

Labels: Brenda and Effie, Krispies, Magrs Month, Matilda, Meat Pies, Neil Gaiman, Oompa Loompa, Paul Magrs, Roald Dahl, Sarah Jane Adventures, The Ninnies

Ok, so apparently every baddie in time and space is decending on the Pandorica which is under Stonehenge, aka "Underhenge", because it's been built to trap The Doctor, which I kind of saw coming. But you've got to give it to Steven Moffat, he's told to bring in the baddies, he does it in style. Every baddy EVER, from Torchwood to Sarah Jane, they are all there. There are Weevils in their jumpers in Underhenge! It kind of warms the cockles of my heart. But really, with all these Romans and Rory's reappearance, because of course he had to reappear, because otherwise, I would be hunting down Steven Moffat across all of time and space myself, nothing, and I repeat, nothing, compares to River Song convincing some faux Romans that she's Cleopatra, despite Cleopatra being dead in Rome. Well... maybe her defacing the oldest cliff face in existence to get The Doctors attention. But with all two parters, we'll have to see... you can't get much bigger of an ending than this, I mean every baddy ever? Plus, Amy's kind of dead, Rory's kind of made of Plastic and The Doctor is in a giant puzzle box... well it can only go up right?

Posted by Miss Eliza at 12:00 AM 0 comments  

Labels: Cleopatra, Doctor Who, River Song, Sarah Jane Adventures, Steven Moffat, Stonehenge, The Doctor, Torchwood, Underhenge, Weevils

Yes you can! Great News for Paranormal Fans! Being Human has been renewed for a third season! Piers Wenger, the lovely producer of Doctor Who and Sarah Jane, as well as the current head of Drama at BBC Wales announced yesterday that Being Human will be back. This is good news for fans, who in a few short weeks, will be going through withdrawal as the second season comes to a close. Being a huge fan of the show, this is good news and comes just at the right time, mainly after the second season's third and best episode. This season got off to a rocky start with our favorite werewolf, vampire and ghost involved in their own little dramas of girlfriends, vampire coup repercussions and gainful employment for the deceased, without realising the threat of some unknown scientific institution that was brought to their existence by Owen at the end of the first season. But thankfully, by episode three, it was back on track. It wasn't anything major, just a subtle shift wherein the characters acknowledged their growing separation and called a house meeting. This also resulted in the funniest scene ever in the show. I can't do it justice, so here it is in it's entirety thanks to YouTube (don't worry, no spoilers).

Posted by Miss Eliza at 3:57 PM 5 comments  

Labels: BBC Wales, Being Human, Doctor Who, Ghost, Piers Wegner, Sarah Jane Adventures, Vampire, Werewolf, YouTube

The countdown till the end of time starts... one week to go, so lets see what the Doctor was up to in the meantime. In the third, and by far strongest season of The Sarah Jane Adventures, we get a lot of heartbreak and a little bit of doctoring. The second season saw Maria leaving us and Rani joining the cast. While at first I wasn't sure how I'd react, more because of my love of Maria's dad Alan, than any attachment I had to Maria, I have to say, with this season Rani proved herself. Also, now that K-9 is a regular... perfect! Almost any show can be improved by a tin dog! So now onto the overall breakdown of the season by episode.

Prisoner of the Judoon: Perfectly showcases the downfall of Sarah Jane... it's a show made up of all the left over bites of Doctor Who and Torchwood. Of course the Judoon were awesome on Doctor Who, but making a random one run around and then grounding the three kids from space travel... lame. Plus the whole Sarah Jane possession and then Rani's parents almost finding out made this a really stupid opening episode.

The Mad Woman in the Attic: Heartrending tale about the possible what ifs in Rani's life. If only this was the season premiere. It deals heavily with the secrets that Sarah Jane has the kids keep and how sometimes they need to tell someone. Plus it's nice having not really evil aliens every once in awhile. Also a scary abandoned fair ground is always good.

The Wedding of Sarah Jane Smith: They got Nigel Havers to be the coolest finance, and oh the twist is awesome. Even if it weren't for The Doctor, this would have been a great episode. Of course, I am getting sick of the stock Sarah Jane villain, The Trickster... but what can you do, at least he's original to this show! Also notice the place where the wedding is? By chance it's where Rhys and Gwen got married on Torchwood... see what I said about reusing the same places!

The Eternity Trap: Best episode of this season. It's a scary ghost story AND an alien story in one. Plus we've seen Professor Rivers before... love continuity. I did have a fit that for no reason they though pictures of The Cavaliers were possible... cause photography has been around since the 1600s in Russell T. Davies' world. Also for other sci-fi freaks... the main ghost, that's Zod from Smallville, aka Callum Blue!

Mona's Lisa's Revenge: Interesting theory about art sharing paint and what else that might entail. Also I was worried about how this would tie in with the previous Whovian Mona Lisa Tale (City of Death) but it's ok, it would work. Though what is up with Mona's accent?!? It's like bad horrid cockney of the worst sort. Did they think it was funny?

The Gift: The Slytheen are back... again...sure they have another name, but I'm totally bored with them. The mini one is still totally cute in a bite your hand off sort of way, but other than that... What is cool though is they were voiced by Simon Callow and Miriam Margolyes! Also learning that Mr. Smith hates K-9, priceless.

Overall a strong third season which will hopefully lead to a forth series pickup. The beginning and the ending were a little lack luster, but the middle episodes where worthy of The Doctor himself. Also a random aside, the little intro to each episode... get ride of it... when Clyde looks at the audience, it makes me want to hunt him down and hurt him.

Posted by Miss Eliza at 12:10 AM 1 comments  

Labels: Alan, Callum Blue, City of Death, Doctor Who, Judoon, K-9, Maria, Mona Lisa, Nigel Havers, Rani, Sarah Jane Adventures, Sarah Jane Smith, Slytheen, Smallville, The Doctor, Torchwood

I've barely come to grips with the fact that come 2010 David Tennant will no longer be The Doctor. So what do they do to me? Change the freakin' logo! I can honestly say I hate it. This is all shiney and sleek and totally reminds me of some of the earlier craptastic Doctor Who logos. When I heard Russell T. Davies was leaving Doctor Who and handing the reins over to Steven Moffat I was extremely excited. Here's the man behind some of the best episodes of Doctor Who in recent years...Timecrash or Blink anyone? Plus, creator of Coupling. I wasn't too worried about the future of the show. I would enjoy it, I probably wouldn't rabidly love it like I do my David Tennant, but there you go, change happens, change here is imminent. Now I'm starting to dwell on the bad...remember season 4 of Coupling anyone? Plus how naive was I to think just because Russell was gone that finally I'd not have to endure yet another Dalek or Cybermen episode, yet there were suspiciously Dalek-esque creatures near the set recently...this logo is just the most recent blow, and I don't know if I can take anymore. I even have fears for my beloved Tardis. They don't have plans to change the desktop theme do they? I can't not have my coral...just please Steven Moffat, don't mess this up. I know the logo probably had nothing to do with you, but don't make it all kid friendly, prewatershed, Sarah Jane Adventures, candy coated, la-de-da crap. I need my Doctor Who! Don't pull a Torchwood on me.

Posted by Miss Eliza at 12:23 AM 2 comments  

Labels: Blink, Coupling, David Tennant, Dr. Who, Russell T. Davies, Sarah Jane Adventures, Steven Moffat, Timecrash